Divinitas Fanfiction
by sweet bitter belossom
Summary: To Know Thyself: It takes a lot of trust and patience to know your lover. But such a task is impossible, if you first do not know yourself.


To Know Thyself

It takes a lot of trust and patience to know your lover. But such a task is impossible, if you first do not know yourself.

* * *

Chapter one: Property of Dreams

Already bored with the proceedings, she tapped her spoon against her glass and sighed. The attention of the other three in the room shifted to the idle figure quickly as she rose from her seat and gave an indifferent glare, startling green eyes lending her beauty even in anger.

"I am not an item to be bartered with father, and I will not submit to your arrangement"

Pushing herself gracefully away from the splendid dinning table, and taking care not to trip in the elegant gown that was her attire, the lady made to leave.

"Dawn" The short bark was a command to stop, but she paid it no heed. Her father had offended her deeply, and she did not care if she was disgracing him in front of his guests, she wasn't about to return.

The soft slamming of the door as the last of her silk-like brown hair vanished from view, brought a smile to only one of the faces present.

However he being the greater influence of the three meant the other expressions were of little consequence.

"I can see why suitors avoid her; she does seem to have a temper doesn't she?"

Frowning deeply the girl's father took a steadying breath.

"A temper supposedly rivaled only by that of your sons" He said sinking deeper into his chair and lifting his glass of wine to his lips in an attempt to drown his anger. "So do we have an accord, lord Aura?"

Lord Aura rose to his feet, and moved to stand beside a tall plain glass window, overlooking the wide fields and gardens that belonged to the manor and stretched for miles.

"You have indeed presented me a tempting offer Duke Llewellyn, but I wonder at your gain in this arrangement" He said slowly, his gaze steadily on the crescent moon that was late to rise. "Your daughter and land holds far more wealth than my own, and you gain nothing aligning our houses. What is your motive?"

Llewellyn smiled at this as he remembered once again why he had summoned this man. A normal noble would certainly never question a chance at marrying a wealthy duchess, but Lord Aura was not so concerned with material pleasures.

"In truth, I believe your son could be the only one to hold her in line" The duke sighed, his eyes glancing at the third occupant in the room briefly before draining the rest of his glass and closing them. Visions of the beauty he had just beheld still danced behind his closed lids and he smiled.

"Besides, your son is aesthetic. My daughter is the only one who will carry my lines; her brother is barren, and soon to be disinherited. I wish for beautiful grand children"

Beyond the door, Dawn had heard enough. Memories of the silver haired beauty that had been seated opposite her during dinner surfaced clearly and shook her deeply. There was something very wrong with the boy who could easily pass for a pure angel. On a level deeper than the soul, her perception told her to be cautious about him.

'He is not to be touched'

The words seemed to whisper on the wind as a sudden cold breeze drifted in through the windows, ajar down the length of the hall and the lady shivered. She had no desire to touch, only be away.

"Eavesdropping is not an acceptable pastime for a lady of your status"

The arrogant voice startled her and she stepped away from the door as if burnt.

"Stephan don't do that" she snapped turning and stalking down the hall, away from far too many things that disgusted her. Her brother smiled after her, watching her arrogant stride, and wishing only too hard that he could break her legs and force her to walk another way. His way perhaps. His smile quickly disappeared however as the door he was standing before opened suddenly.

Green eyes clashed with icy silver and for a moment, took the time to consider each other.

A moment that lapsed considerably past what it should have.

"You are the common painter to wed my sister?" Stephan said slowly as he allowed his eyes to dip and examine the younger boy before him, dressed in finery and looking above anything that should grace earth with its presence. When no reply came Stephan smiled and stare into the boys eyes briefly before continuing his walk down the hall.

"I see nothing special about this half"

Gryps had only a moment to consider these words before a darker gleam crept into his eyes and a twisted smile traced itself upon his lips.

"Too smart for his own good that one" he muttered to himself, feeling for the knife he had taken from the table earlier. "Pity he is going to have to wait his turn"

Silver eyes snapped open quickly to be greeted by fierce sunlight and forced to close again. Groaning and turning away from the light, Gryps struggled blindly with his blankets for a moment before giving up and opening his eyes. Sun no longer stung them, but vision was hazy in the aftershock, and took a moment to adjust to his surroundings.

Blankets were twisted around his limbs and tangled in his hair, restricting his movements but that aside nothing had changed in the room since he had gone to sleep.

'Sleep well?' A voice that was not new to his inner ear was ignored as the air deity began freeing himself from his confining quilt.

Today he wasn't going to answer. Today was important and Today, He was not going to come out.

'Don't ignore me' the voice pouted, but there was a threat concealed in his tone. 'I know you can hear me'

"Yes I can hear you." Gryps muttered leaving his sheets in a crumpled heap for the servants and making his way towards the luxurious bathroom.

Silver glinted off marble, together reflecting the bright sunlight streaming through the many open windows that lined the room. Not for the first time, Gryps wished those windows closed with curtains drawn, but it was simply an impossibility now. Since the position of the Air God had been bestowed upon him, walls had felt constricting, and prolonged time inside induced claustrophobia. The opened windows connected him with the wind and made it easier to sleep. Not that sleep was worth much anymore.

'It's not polite to ignore people' That pout again. 'You're not upset about the dream are you? You couldn't be, we woke up before the best part.'

No outward signs showed his surprise, but Ari didn't need to know outward reactions to catch the grief.

'Oh yes I created it. I created it because you have been ignoring me. I don't like it when you ignore me'

"Well I don't like you being in my head, but we don't all get what we want now do we?"

Ari didn't like this reply, and Gryps simply wouldn't listen to anything else he had to say. He was serious this morning, and he was hiding something from his darker side, deep in the light where there were no shadows, and he had no access.

Resolving to simply watch from the inside, Ari disappeared, and Gryps was grateful for the quiet. He didn't fool himself and use the word privacy in relation to Ari's absence. Denial was a bump in the road a long time ago, and he knew he was never truly alone. Darkness always held a thousand eyes and they were always on him.

Bathing and dressing in what classed for clothing in the castle of Genesis, the usual morning routine was completed as fast as possible and he soon found himself at breakfast, thankfully the quietest meal of the day. Mostly because his Lord Aether and his chew toy weren't present, but it had turned out Draco was not really a morning person either. At least not since he had taken to flying off in the middle of the night to practice the sword on the silent surface of a remote lake.

Ari had followed him the first night, not trusting one who had been the lover of a high rank Tenshi, and then the second night when he had been disappointed on the first. When Draco had confronted Ari about his trust issues, the matter had been resolved rather quickly. Ari could be the best fighter in the three realms, but even he couldn't breathe underwater.

Nothing seemed to dampen the spirits of the Chimera however, who greeted them every morning in a chipper mood with a huge grin.

"Good morning Gryps, Good morning Ari"

"Morning" Gryps said, seating himself a few seats away from the cheerful boy and giving an acknowledging glance to the water Deity.

A glance that wasn't returned.

In fact Gryps doubted the older boy had even noticed that he had entered as he watched Draco gaze absently at the scrambled eggs on his plate.

'His guard is down, I could slit his throat before he even summons the water beast, I won't lose this time –'

Ignoring Ari, Gryps began on his breakfast. It wasn't any of his business if the water Deity had other things to think about.

"Hide me!"

All attention immediately snapped to the door where a sprinting Phoenix had just burst through, and Gryps sighed as he watched the terrified boy skid under the table and hide under Chima's chair.

"I would have though that you of all people would have realized that there is no use hiding from him" Gryps muttered nonchalantly as he started on his breakfast.

"Not him" Phoenix hissed distractedly as his keen gaze locked on the door. "Her! Yuu and Casimir have developed new ridiculous costumes for us to wear at some pathetic festival she wants to hold-"

"THE FESTIVAL OF SONG IS NOT PATHETIC!"

So much for his hiding place.

Casimir burst in triumphantly, holding not only both Aether's Katana and Phoenix's sword, but also a ridiculously fluffy cape of red peacock feathers.

"Are they real?" Chima blinked, looking at the red feathers with interest, but he wasn't answered as Yuu burst in a step behind Casi holding the rest of Phoenix's outfit.

It was quickly apparent why Phoenix had been running so fast. It looked like someone had killed a Cherokee Indian, stole his clothes and covered them with fluffy feathers.

'Nice outfit' Ari snickered. 'How many chickens do you think they killed to make that?'

It took a great amount of self control not to laugh, and further infuriate the Fire god. It was too early in the morning to fight and besides, violence drew Ari out. Something that was not going to happen today.

"I AM NOT WEARING THAT THING!" Phoenix roared, leaping from under the table and using Chima as a shield. "It's worse than what I usually wear!"

"It's a cultural costume" Yuu snapped indignantly.

"It's a skirt!" phoenix returned hotly as he glared over the top of Chima's chair and looked as his blade wistfully.

"Nonsense, there is more to it than that!"

"There are Boots, a cape, armbands and…" Casimir trailed off as she searched for something else she could add to the pitiful description.

"Miles of feathers?" Draco supplied.

"And Ribbons" Gryps added.

"Well there is paint and makeup that goes with it" Casimir added ignoring the boys input.

Looking positively mortified, Phoenix made a mad dash for a nearby window, ripping his wings free in the process and leaving a pretty shower of blood to spray the wall as he leapt out of it.

"Honestly, you'd think he'd be more mature. Even Lord Aether wasn't that dramatic about avoiding us" Yuu frowned as she watched two servants scurry forward and begin to clean the muck from the wall. Gryps watched the cleaner's expressions carefully, but saw no disgust to their work.

'Probably used to it living in this castle' he thought absently.

"Am I right in assuming that we are to be included in this Festival?" Draco sighed, apparently snapped out of his daydream, but not looking at all the polite and indifferent noble he usually was. He looked deeply troubled and even… annoyed? Anger seemed too strong a word to associate with the Water youth, but he seemed close to it.

"Of course, my Brother agreed to this whole thing" Casi smiled brightly as she turned her attention from the window.

"But isn't that Lord Aether's sword?" Chima questioned as he pointed to the sheathed katana Casi was holding. At the mention of the blade, Casi's smile brightened.

"Oh that's simply a wardrobe glitch, he will get over it"

"I find that terribly unlikely" purred a silky voice over her shoulder, causing her to jump. "I am not going to wear white, and especially not something that looks like Deus just took it off. Now I suggest you two leave and fix that up before I change my mind"

Although the voice was calm, it was firm, and one could immediately tell that the blonde Deity standing sternly in the doorway was not in a good mood. Glancing at his new Lord, Gryps noted that he not only had his own blade back, but also held Phoenix' weapon tightly in his grasp and was glaring at the window that had allowed Phoenix's escape as if it had betrayed him in someway.

Looking at her brother quizzically, Casimir made to speak, but stopped abruptly as she caught her brother's eye. This was not the time.

Motioning for Yuu to follow her, Casi left without a word, the cleaners at the far wall following by example and scurried after her, abandoning their job and leaving traces of darkening blood on the wall to clean later. As soon as they were out of sight, the door behind Aether slammed shut and he turned a blazing glare on Draco.

"Chimera, go and find Phoenix and bring him inside Genesis. Use any means necessary."

Springing out of his seat and sending a reassuring smile to Draco, Chima did his best to ignore the tension as he skipped out past Aether, opening the freshly slammed door and leaving it slightly ajar as he went about his task, detouring to the grand chamber that held his scythe, before sprinting as fast as he could to find Phoenix. He wasn't stupid, he knew very well that Draco was in trouble, but he also knew there wasn't a lot that he could do about it. His only hope was to get Phoenix as fast as possible and trust that Draco could be strong enough until then.

* * *

The time it took for a word to be spoken seemed like a millennia, and even when Aether did find his voice, he spoke so quietly it was a strain to hear him.

"I will suggest, that you never do that again"

Puzzled, Gryps looked at Draco who was doing his best to return Aether's gaze, but his static expression gave nothing away. What had he done that had been so wrong it invoked Aether's temper? It couldn't be anything to do with Ari's suspicions.

"He was upset, I did nothing more than-"

"You kissed him"

"No actually, he kissed me, and I think you will find he knew very little about what he was doing at the time, he was rather intoxicated"

Draco's words seemed to do very little to quell Aether's temper, and the dark haired boy quickly stood up as Aether started across the room. They couldn't really be hinting at…

Smack!

Gryps suddenly found himself standing as he watched Draco reel back in surprise. Aether had never been hostile towards any of the gods except Phoenix, and to see him deliver violence to Draco was unnerving. While Gryps felt an ice cube slip down his spine, Draco composed himself once again, but took a careful step backwards.

"Why?"

One expression could not be pinned to Aether's tone, but when Draco replied, his expression was quiet evident. He was afraid.

"Because you are confusing him! He doesn't understand just what it is you want from him, and to tell you the truth, neither do I. You're hurting more than his body every time you cut into him and one of you has to wake up and see that before you do damage that you can not fix."

"You slept with him"

Draco shook his head in disbelief. He doubted Aether had heard a word of what he had said, he was so possessed by jealously.

"Yes, I slept with him, and sleeping was all that was done." He snapped as curtly as he dared. "Perhaps if his own bed was a bit gentler, he wouldn't wander into anothers"

Well Ari did have to give him credit, he certainly had guts. And judging by the expression on Aether's face, there was a very high probability that he would get to see them while being they were being hacked to pieces by a Katana.

"The welfare of the God of fire is not your problem Water Dragon. He is my property, as are you. Perhaps if you are so concerned about him, you'll take his place for a night"

The offer, of course, was falsely spoken, they all knew that but the comment did hurt a little. They really were nothing more than the possessions of a greedy god, made to obey his whim, and ignore each others pain. It really was a sad existence.

Sensing Gryps pain, Ari took over control, braving the reality while sending Gryps to the comforting recesses of his mind, where there was no concern for his companions, and no bitter masters. Only him.

There was resistance at first, the ceaseless chant of 'not today' echoed for a long time, but it did not take long to quell, and after a moment, The lighter side relaxed into his mental embrace. Smiling at the fact his lighter side was taking comfort from him; Ari turned his attention back to the argument at hand, disappointed that it was dissipating before any blood was shed.

"Fine, I will"

"What was that?" Aether blinked, anger falling from his features immediately. He looked very much like a stunned fish, and had obviously not been expecting that reply.

"I said, My Lord Aether, that I would give Phoenix a night of relief, and would take his place"

'Now isn't this a picture perfect moment' Ari muttered to Gryps who was watching on with equal surprise. 'Bet you wish you brought a sketchpad to breakfast now, no?'

'Does he realize what he is saying!' Gryps demanded as Ari silently laughed.

'Of course. He is doing the same thing Aether just did, he knows Aether is going to say No, he has no interest in anyone except his precious bird of– '

"I am going to expect you to scream" Aether muttered as the shock faded away to a bitter smile.

"You'll get what you ask for" Draco said confidently as Aether gave him a final glance and turned away, walking with no particular hurry towards the door, and then finally down the hall.

Genesis itself gave a shudder as the whispered words floated back into the silent hall, twisting in an intricate pattern with the wind to brush ebony locks aside and caress his ear.

"I look forward to it"

A/N: Ok boy was that rushed. And I'm pretty sure it doesn't flow, I haven't edited it or anything. But keep in mind this is only the first chapter. Some stuff might seem out of place, and out of character, but it's all explained nicely in the next few chapters. Anyhow, hope you like, and I love reviews.

P.s: the dream bit was boring, but it is there for a reason. It's made up btw, not a memory or anything like that.


End file.
